Work to begin on Santa Monica-UCLA outpatient surgery and oncology facility

Construction is expected to begin later this month on the UCLA Health System’s 16th Street Outpatient Surgery and Oncology Building in Santa Monica.

The three-story, 45,000-square-foot facility is being built by a private developer, Nautilus Group, in partnership with UCLA Health System at 1223 16th St., across from the Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center and Orthopaedic Hospital. UCLA will hold the master lease on the building after completion.

The facility will house eight operating rooms for outpatient surgery, two radiation oncology units for cancer treatment, laboratories and medical offices, as well as teaching space for medical student training.

“The building will be the perfect complement to our new hospital, which is scheduled to open in summer 2011,” said Posie Carpenter, chief administrative officer at Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center and Orthopaedic Hospital. “It will provide a patient-friendly setting to better serve our ambulatory patients while also enabling us to further our mission of medical education.”

Designed by architect Michael Folonis, the building will feature a less-clinical environment through the extensive use of landscape and filtered natural light in public spaces, as well as clinical areas, hospital officials say. It is also designed to contain numerous sustainable features and is expected to be certified for a LEED Gold rating.

“This project represents a unique private-public partnership to better serve the university’s and community’s needs,” said developer Randy Miller with Nautilus Group. “We think it could serve as a model for future development.”

Among the building’s notable features will be its underground, automated garage that will use a mechanical lift to store 250 cars in a portion of the space required for conventional parking lots.

Other green features include a solar array on the roof, energy-efficient mechanical and electrical systems and drought-tolerant landscaping.

The projected cost of the project is $40 million and plans call for the building to be completed in 16 months, hospital officials said.